Gate contact with vertical isolation from source-drain

ABSTRACT

A method of forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a gate structure having a first conductive material above a semiconductor substrate, gate spacers on opposing sides of the first conductive material, and a first interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer surrounding the gate spacers and the first conductive material. An upper portion of the first conductive material is recessed. The gate spacers are recessed until a height of the gate spacers is less than a height of the gate structure. An isolation liner is deposited above the gate spacers and the first conductive material. A portion of the isolation liner is removed so that a top surface of the first conductive material is exposed. A second conductive material is deposited in a contact hole created above the first conductive material and the gate spacers to form a gate contact.

BACKGROUND

The present invention generally relates to integrated circuits, and moreparticularly to fabricating semiconductor structures having gatecontacts electrically isolated from source-drain regions.

Contacts may be formed in order to make electrical connections to asemiconductor device. Contacts to source-drain regions of thesemiconductor device may be referred to as CA contacts. CA contacts maybe distinguished from CB contacts which may form an electricalconnection to the gate of a semiconductor structure. The source-drainregions may remain electrically insulated from the gate terminal inorder to improve functionality of the semiconductor device.Additionally, a short circuit between the source-drain regions and thegate may damage the semiconductor device. CA and CB contacts may beformed in a contact hole etched in an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layerdeposited over the semiconductor device, and therefore may be surroundedby the ILD layer. As a result of device scaling, CB contacts may beplaced in increasingly close proximity to the source-drain regions, thusraising the possibilities of having a short circuit between the CBcontact and an adjacent source-drain region.

SUMMARY

The ability to manufacture semiconductor structures including gatecontacts electrically isolated from source-drain regions may facilitateadvancing the capabilities of current complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a method offorming a semiconductor structure may include: forming a gate structureincluding a first conductive material above a semiconductor substrate,gate spacers on opposing sides of the first conductive material, and afirst interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer surrounding the gate spacers andthe first conductive material. An upper portion of the first conductivematerial may be recessed. The gate spacers may be recessed until aheight of the gate spacers is less than a height of the gate structure.An isolation liner may be deposited above the gate spacers and the firstconductive material. A portion of the isolation liner may be removed sothat a top surface of the first conductive material is exposed and asecond conductive material may be deposited in a contact hole createdabove the first conductive material and the gate spacers to form a gatecontact.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method mayinclude forming a semiconductor structure above a semiconductorsubstrate. The semiconductor structure may include a gate structurehaving a first conductive material and a workfunction metal, gatespacers located on opposite sides of sidewalls of the gate structure,and a source-drain region adjacent to the gate spacers. A first ILDlayer may be deposited above the semiconductor substrate. A portion ofthe first conductive material may be etched. The gate spacers may beetched to form a recess above the gate spacers at a level below thefirst conductive material. An isolation liner may be formed in therecess. The isolation liner may be etched to expose a top surface of thefirst conductive material. The gate spacers may remain covered by theisolation liner and a gate cap is formed above the isolation liner andthe first conductive material.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, asemiconductor structure may include: gate spacers located on oppositesides of a gate structure on a semiconductor substrate, the gatestructure may have a height greater than a height of the gate spacers.An ILD layer above the semiconductor substrate, an isolation liner abovethe gate spacers, the isolation liner may be located between a firstconductive material of the gate structure and an exposed sidewall of theILD layer, and a gate contact electrically connected to the gatestructure, the gate contact may be electrically isolated from asource-drain region in the semiconductor substrate by the isolationliner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The following detailed description, given by way of example and notintended to limit the invention solely thereto, will best be appreciatedin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictinga FET device formed above a semiconductor substrate surrounded by afirst ILD layer, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe etching of a first conductive material, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe etching of gate spacers, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe deposition of an isolation liner, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe removal of a portion of the isolation liner, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe deposition of a gate cap above the isolation liner and the firstconductive material, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe formation of a recess in the first and second ILD layers, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe removal of the gate cap and the formation of a contact hole,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe deposition of a second conductive material to fill the contact holeand form a gate contact, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor structure depictingthe formation of a source-drain contact, according to an alternateembodiment of the present disclosure.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations, not intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typicalembodiments of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering representslike elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments now will be described more fully herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. This invention may, however, be modified in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplaryembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and willfully convey the scope of this invention to those skilled in the art. Inthe description, details of well-known features and techniques may beomitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring of the presented embodiments.

As semiconductor devices shrink in each generation of semiconductortechnology, formation of gate contacts, or CB contacts, may become morechallenging because there is an increased risk of a short circuitbetween a source-drain region and a gate contact. The risk of a shortcircuit may be increased because of the reduction of the gate contact tosource-drain region distance as a result of the continuous reduction ingate height. Over-etch of spacer material and gate contact misalignmentmay further increase the probabilities of shorts between thesource-drain region and gate contact. As a result, the likelihood of thegate contact shorting to the source-drain region of a semiconductorstructure increases in each generation, potentially having a significantimpact on product yield and reliability.

A method of forming a semiconductor structure including an isolationliner to electrically separate a gate contact from an adjacentsource-drain region is described in detail below by referring to theaccompanying drawings in FIGS. 1-10, in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment of the present disclosure. In typical self-aligned contact(SAC) techniques, a gate cap may be needed to enable the SAC process.The gate cap may include different types of nitrides which may havesimilar etch properties as the gate spacer. The gate contact may beformed on top of a gate structure but also may be on top of the gatespacers. Owing to the similar etch properties between the gate cap andthe gate spacers, the gate spacers may be vertically eroded duringformation of the contact hole. The erosion of the gate spacers may causethe gate contact to be displaced towards an adjacent source-drain regionincreasing the probability of a short circuit between the gate contactand the source-drain region. Accordingly, improving gate contactformation may enhance device performance and increase product yield andreliability.

According to an exemplary embodiment, gate contact formation may beimproved by forming an isolation liner prior to the deposition of thegate cap. The isolation liner may be deposited on top of the gatestructure and recessed gate spacers prior to the deposition of the gatecap; this may prevent vertical erosion of the gate spacers and mayelectrically isolate the gate contact from an adjacent source-drainregion. One embodiment by which to fabricate the isolation liner toprevent vertical erosion of the gate spacers during contact holeformation and to isolate the gate contact from a source-drain region isdescribed in detail below by referring to the accompanying drawings inFIGS. 1-10.

Referring to FIG. 1, a semiconductor structure 100 may include a fieldeffect transistor (FET) device 104 formed over a semiconductor substrate102, and a first ILD layer 120 over the FET device 104. The FET device104 may include an n-type FET device (n-FET) or a p-type FET device(p-FET).

The FET device 104 may include a gate structure 110. In one embodiment,the gate structure 110 may be formed above the semiconductor substrate102. In another embodiment, the gate structure 110 may be formed over aportion of one or more fins (not shown) formed from the semiconductorsubstrate 102. It should be noted that the gate structure 110 may beformed in any semiconductor substrate known to a person having ordinaryskill in the art, including but not limited to SOI substrates and bulksilicon substrates. It should be understood that the FET device 104 maybe fabricated using either a replacement metal gate (RMG), or gate last,process flow, or a gate first process flow. A gate last process flowwill be relied on for the description provided below.

At this point of the manufacturing process, the gate structure 110 mayinclude a metal gate 108 formed by a plurality of metal layers and agate dielectric layer. In one embodiment, the metal gate 108 may includea gate dielectric 116, a workfunction metal 114 and first conductivematerial (also referred to as a gate electrode) 118. In someembodiments, the gate structure 110 may include additional layers (notshown), for example, a second workfunction metal.

The gate dielectric 116 may include an insulating material including,but not limited to: oxide, nitride, oxynitride or silicate includingmetal silicates and nitrided metal silicates. In one embodiment, thegate dielectric 116 may include an oxide such as, for example, SiO₂,HfO₂, ZrO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, La₂O₃, SrTiO₃, LaAlO₃, and mixtures thereof.The physical thickness of the gate dielectric 116 may vary, buttypically the gate dielectric 116 may have a thickness ranging fromabout 0.5 nm to about 10 nm. More preferably the gate dielectric 116 mayhave a thickness ranging from about 0.5 nm to about 3 nm. The gatedielectric 116 may be formed by any suitable deposition technique knownin the art, such as, for example, chemical vapor deposition (CVD),plasma-assisted CVD, atomic layer deposition (ALD), evaporation,reactive sputtering, chemical solution deposition or other likedeposition processes.

The workfuction metal 114 may include, for example, Zr, W, Ta, Hf, Ti,Al, Ru, Pa, metal oxide, metal carbide, metal nitride, transition metalaluminides (e.g. Ti3Al, ZrAl), TaC, TiC, TaMgC), and any combination ofthose materials. In one embodiment, the first conductive material 118may include a metal with lower resistivity (higher conductivity) thanthe workfunction metal 114, including, for example tungsten (W) oraluminum (Al). The workfunction metal 114 and the first conductivematerial 118 may be deposited by any suitable deposition technique knownin the art, for example by ALD, CVD, physical vapor deposition (PVD),molecular beam deposition (MBD), pulsed laser deposition (PLD), orliquid source misted chemical deposition (LSMCD).

With continued reference to FIG. 1, source-drain regions 106 may beformed in the semiconductor substrate 102 adjacent to the gate structure110. For the purposes of this disclosure, source-drain regions 106formed in the semiconductor substrate may also include source-drainregions 106 formed on or above the semiconductor substrate 102, asdepicted in FIG. 1. The steps involved in forming the source-drainregions 106 are well known to those skilled in the art. The source-drainregions 106 may include raised source-drain regions, extension regions,halo regions, and deep source-drain regions. In one embodiment, thesource-drain region 106 may include a raised source-drain region (RSD),as depicted in FIG. 1. It should be noted that silicide (not shown)and/or local metal interconnects (not shown) may also be on top of thesource-drain regions 106.

Gate spacers 112 may be formed on opposite sidewalls of the gatestructure 110 by conventional deposition and etching techniques. Invarious embodiments, the gate spacers 112 may include one or morelayers. While the gate spacers 112 are herein described in the plural,the gate spacers 112 may consist of a single spacer surrounding the gatestructure 110. The gate spacers 112 may be made from an insulatormaterial such as an oxide, nitride, oxynitride, silicon carbonoxynitride, silicon boron oxynitride, low-k dielectric, or anycombination thereof. The gate spacers 112 may have a thickness rangingfrom approximately 5 nm to approximately 25 nm. In one embodiment, thegate spacers 112 may include silicon nitride and may be formed bydepositing a conformal silicon nitride layer over the gate structure 110and removing unwanted material from the conformal silicon nitride layerusing an anisotropic etching process such as, for example, reactive ionetching (RIE) or plasma etching.

The first ILD layer 120 may be formed above the semiconductor substrate102. The first ILD layer 120 may fill the gaps between two adjacent gatestructures (not shown) and other existing devices within thesemiconductor structure 100. The first ILD layer 120 may be formed byany suitable deposition method known in the art, for example, by CVD ofa dielectric material. The first ILD layer 120 may include any suitabledielectric material, for example, silicon oxide, silicon nitride,hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, silicon based low-k dielectrics,flowable oxides, porous dielectrics, or organic dielectrics includingporous organic dielectrics. The first dielectric layer 120 may bethinned, for example by a chemical mechanical planarization/polish (CMP)technique, so that a top surface of the first dielectric layer 120 maybe approximately coplanar with a top surface of the gate structure 110.After CMP, the first dielectric layer 120 may have a thickness rangingfrom approximately 30 nm to approximately 120 nm.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the first conductive material 118 may berecessed selective to the gate spacers 112 and the first ILD layer 120.Ideal etch selectivity may result in a fast etch rate of the firstconductive material 118, with little or no etching of all othermaterials. The first conductive material 118 may be recessed by anysuitable isotropic etching technique known in the art, for example, bydirectional RIE.

Referring now to FIG. 3, the gate spacers 112 may be recessed selectiveto the first ILD layer 120 and the first conductive material 118. Thegate spacers 112 may be recessed by any suitable isotropic etchingtechnique known in the art, such as for example, directional RIE. Afterrecessing the gate spacers 112, a top portion of the first conductivematerial 118 may be exposed and a gate recess region 10 may be formedabove the gate spacers 112 and the first conductive material 118. In oneembodiment, etching of the gate spacers 112 may stop once a height ofapproximately 10 nm to approximately 30 nm of the first conductivematerial 118 is exposed.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an isolation liner 124 may be deposited in thegate recess region 10 (shown in FIG. 3). The isolation liner 124 mayfunction as an etch stop liner to prevent damage of the gate spacers 112during contact hole formation (FIGS. 7-8). The isolation liner 124 maybe formed by any deposition method know in the art, for example, byatomic layer deposition (ALD). The isolation liner 124 may be made of amaterial capable of etched selectively relative to a subsequently formedgate cap 128 (shown in FIG. 6) and the gate spacers 112. In oneembodiment, the isolation liner 124 may include a high-k dielectricmaterial, including, for example, transition metal oxides such ashafnium oxides (Hf_(y)O_(x)), lanthanum oxides (La_(y)O_(x)) andzirconium oxides (Zr_(y)O_(x)). Any other suitable dielectric materialwith suitable etch properties may also be used as the isolation liner124, including for example, other ALD-deposited high-k oxides Theisolation liner 124 may have a thickness ranging from approximately 3 nmto approximately 15 nm such that after deposition of the isolation liner124, the space above the gate spacers 112 and between the first ILDlayer 120 and an exposed portion of the first conductive material 118may be substantially filled. Deposition of the isolation liner 124 maydelineate an upper contour of the semiconductor structure 100 creating afirst recess 12.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the isolation liner 124 may be removed from anupper portion of the first ILD layer 120. By removing the isolationliner 124, the first recess 12 (FIG. 4) may be expanded until a topsurface of the first conductive material 118 has been exposed and aremaining portion of the isolation liner 124 above the gate spacers 112may be approximately coplanar with a top surface of the first conductivematerial 118. Alternatively, the remaining portion of the isolationliner 124 may be slightly lower than the top surface of the firstconductive material 118. The isolation liner 124 may be removed by anysuitable isotropic etching technique known in the art that may beselective to the first conductive material 118 and the ILD layer 120. Inone embodiment where the isolation liner 124 may include hafnium oxide,for example, the isolation liner 124 may be removed by a hightemperature plasma etch with a BCl₃ etchant. In another embodiment wherethe isolation liner 124 may include an oxide, for example, the isolationliner 124 may be removed by a chemical oxide removal (COR) technique. Aportion of the isolation liner 124 may remain above the gate spacers 112filling the space between the exposed portion of the first conductivematerial 118 and the first ILD layer 120. After removal of a portion ofthe isolation liner 124, a second recess 14 may be formed above theremaining portion of the isolation liner 124 and the first conductivematerial 118. It should be noted that the amount of etch back may beclose to the initial deposition thickness of the isolation liner 124.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a gate cap 128 may be formed above theisolation liner 124 substantially filling the second recess 14 (FIG. 5).The isolation liner 124 may prevent vertical erosion of gate spacers 112during the subsequent formation of a contact hole 136 (FIG. 8). The gatecap 128 may be made of substantially the same material as the gatespacers 112. In one embodiment, the gate cap 128 may include siliconnitride and may have a thickness ranging from approximately 15 nm toapproximately 45 nm. The gate cap 128 may be formed by any depositionmethod know in the art, for example, by CVD or ALD. A CMP process may beconducted to remove an excess of the nitride material forming the gatecap 128 from the semiconductor structure 100 such that an upper surfaceof the gate cap 128 may be substantially coplanar with an upper surfaceof the first ILD layer 120.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a second ILD layer 132 may be deposited abovethe first ILD layer 120 and above the gate cap 128. The second ILD layer132 may be formed by any suitable deposition method known in the art,for example, by CVD of a dielectric material. The second ILD layer 132may include any suitable dielectric material, for example, siliconoxide, silicon nitride, hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, silicon basedlow-k dielectrics, flowable oxides, porous dielectrics, or organicdielectrics including porous organic dielectrics. The second ILD layer132 may be made of a substantially similar material as the first ILDlayer 120. Accordingly, the second ILD layer 132 may not bedistinguishable from the first ILD layer 120. The second ILD layer 132may have a thickness ranging from approximately 10 nm to approximately100 nm.

After deposition of the second ILD layer 132, a third recess 16 may beetched through the second ILD layer 132 and the first ILD layer 120 toexpose the gate cap 128. A portion of the first and second ILD layers120, 132 may be removed by any suitable etching technique known in theart, for example, by dry etch, wet etch, or combination of both to formthe third recess 16. The etching technique may be selective to the gatecap 128. In one embodiment, a timed RIE technique may be used to etchthe third recess 16 selectively to the gate cap 128.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the gate cap 128 (FIG. 7) may be removed toexpose the first conductive material 118. The gate cap 128 may beremoved by any suitable etching technique known in the art, for example,by dry etch, wet etch, or combination of both. Removal of the gate cap128 may expand the third recess 16 (FIG. 7) to form a contact hole 136.The etching technique may be selective to the isolation liner 124 andthe first conductive material 118. In one embodiment, a RIE techniquemay be used to remove the gate cap 128 selective to the isolation liner124 and first conductive material 118.

The isolation liner 124 may function as a barrier during formation ofthe contact hole 136. If the isolation liner 124 were absent, the gatespacers 112 may be damaged by the etching technique used to form thecontact hole 136, and therefore a short circuit may be caused between asubsequently formed gate contact (shown in FIG. 9) and an adjacentsource-drain region 106.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a second conductive material 134 may bedeposited to fill the contact hole 136 shown in FIG. 8 and form a gatecontact 138 to the metal gate 108 (FIG. 1). The second conductivematerial 134 may include a material having a high electricalconductivity. In one embodiment, the second conductive material 134 mayinclude, for example, tungsten, copper, aluminum, silver, gold, alloysthereof, and any suitable combination thereof. The thickness, or depth,of the second conductive material 134, may range from about 25 nm toabout 150 nm, although lesser and greater thicknesses may also be used.In some embodiments, the second conductive material 134 may includeseveral metal layers, seed layers, or liners of different materials; forexample, the second conductive material 134 may include a metal liner135. The metal liner 135 may include titanium (Ti) or titanium nitride(TiN).

The second conductive material 134 may be deposited by any suitabletechnique, such as, for example: ALD, molecular layer deposition (MLD),CVD, in-situ radical assisted deposition, metalorganic chemical vapordeposition (MOCVD), molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), physical vapordeposition (PVD), sputtering, plating, evaporation, ion beam deposition,electron beam deposition, laser assisted deposition, chemical solutiondeposition, or any combination thereof. After formation of the gatecontact 138, a planarization process such as CMP may be performed toremove any excess second conductive material 134 from above thesemiconductor structure 100.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a semiconductor structure 200 is shown toillustrate the formation of a source-drain contact 140 (also referred toas CA contact) to the source-drain region 106 in another FET device. Asmay be appreciated, the presence of the isolation liner 124 may notinterfere with the formation of the source-drain contact 140.

Therefore, forming the isolation liner 124 prior to forming the gate cap128 during fabrication of self-aligned contacts may have multipleadvantages over known techniques in the art, including, but not limitedto: the isolation liner 124 may electrically isolate the gate contact,or CB contact, from the adjacent source-drain regions 106, decreasingthe possibilities of a short circuit in the device; the isolation liner124 may serve as an effective barrier during etching of the contact hole136 to form the gate contact 138, preventing vertical erosion of thegate spacers 112; and, because the isolation liner 124 may not need tobe removed, an etching step may be eliminated, thus greatly reducing thepossibility of causing further damage to the gate cap 128 and the gatespacers 112.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiment, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor structure comprising: gatespacers located on opposite sides of a gate structure on a semiconductorsubstrate, the gate structure having a height greater than a height ofthe gate spacers; an interlevel dielectric (ILD) layer located above thesemiconductor substrate and laterally surrounding the gate spacers andthe gate structure; an isolation liner located above the gate spacers,the isolation liner filling a space between a first conductive materialof the gate structure and an exposed sidewall of the ILD layer; and agate contact comprises a second conductive material and electricallyconnected to the gate structure, the gate contact vertically contactingthe first conductive material of the gate structure and the isolationliner.
 2. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein a top surfaceof the isolation liner is coplanar with a top surface of the firstconductive material in the gate structure.
 3. The semiconductorstructure of claim 1, wherein the isolation liner comprises a high-kdielectric material selected from the group consisting of hafniumoxides, lanthanum oxides, and zirconium oxide.
 4. The semiconductorstructure of claim 1, wherein the gate spacers comprise silicon nitride,silicon carbon oxynitride, silicon boron oxynitride, or a low-kdielectric material.
 5. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, whereinthe first conductive material comprises tungsten or aluminum.
 6. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the gate structure furthercomprises a gate dielectric and a work function metal present over thegate dielectric, wherein the first conductive material is present overthe work function metal.
 7. The semiconductor structure of claim 6,wherein the first conductive material is T-shaped having a lower portionsurrounded by the work functional metal and an upper portion verticallycontacting topmost surfaces of the gate dielectric and the work functionmetal.
 8. The semiconductor structure of claim 6, wherein the gatedielectric comprises SiO₂, HfO₂, ZrO₂, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, La₂O₃, SrTiO₃,LaAlO₃, or a mixture thereof, and wherein the work function metalcomprises Zr, W, Ta, Hf, Ti, Al, Ru, Pa, Ti3Al, ZrAl, TaC, TiC, orTaMgC.
 9. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprisinganother ILD layer located over the ILD layer, wherein the gate contactis laterally surrounded by an upper portion of the ILD layer and theanother ILD layer.
 10. The semiconductor structure of claim 9, whereineach of the ILD layer and the another ILD layer comprises silicon oxide,silicon nitride, hydrogenated silicon carbon oxide, a silicon basedlow-k dielectric material, a flowable oxide, a porous dielectricmaterial, or an organic dielectric material.
 11. The semiconductorstructure of claim 1, wherein the second conductive material comprisestungsten, copper, aluminum, silver, gold, or an alloy thereof.
 12. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising source-drainregions present on the semiconductor substrate and adjacent to the gatestructure.
 13. The semiconductor structure of claim 12, furthercomprising a source-drain contact located over the source-drain regions,wherein the first conductive material of the gate structure iselectrically isolated from the source-drain contact by the isolationliner.
 14. The semiconductor structure of claim 12, wherein a portion ofeach gate spacer is present on a sidewall surface and a portion of atopmost surface of one of the source-drain regions.
 15. Thesemiconductor structure of claim 1, further comprising source-drainregions present in the semiconductor substrate and adjacent to the gatestructure.
 16. The semiconductor structure of claim 15, furthercomprising a source-drain contact located over the source-drain regions,wherein the first conductive material of the gate structure iselectrically isolated from the source-drain contact by the isolationliner.
 17. The semiconductor structure of claim 1, wherein the gatestructure comprises a U-shaped gate dielectric, and wherein a sidewallof each spacer contacts a sidewall of a vertical portion of the U-shapedgate dielectric.
 18. The semiconductor structure of claim 17, wherein aportion of the first conductive material of the gate structure ispresent directly on a topmost surface of the U-shaped gate dielectric.19. The semiconductor structure of claim 18, wherein outermost sidewallsof the U-shaped gate dielectric are vertically aligned to outermostsidewalls of the first conductive material.
 20. A semiconductorstructure comprising: gate spacers located on opposite sides of a gatestructure on a semiconductor fin, the gate structure having a heightgreater than a height of the gate spacers; an interlevel dielectric(ILD) layer located above the semiconductor fin and laterallysurrounding the gate spacers and the gate structure; an isolation linerlocated above the gate spacers, the isolation liner filling a spacebetween a first conductive material of the gate structure and an exposedsidewall of the ILD layer; and a gate contact comprises a secondconductive material and electrically connected to the gate structure,the gate contact vertically contacting the first conductive material ofthe gate structure and the isolation liner.